Conscious Community in Knoxville?

[anothertntony]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

I have had a few knock on my door over the years but I have found the truth has usually ended their trying. They knock, I answer, they say they stopped by to invite me to their church....I say "Hello, thank you, that is so nice of you, but I am Catholic. " With a huge smile. They say, "OH.....ok then, well have a blessed day" or something similar and leave.

Yes, absolutely. I agree that most of the time that would be the reaction. I also agree that most universities will have similar ... demonstrations of free speech.

However, for some people, that will be their only exposure to Knoxville (or maybe even their only exposure to the South). So, when people have differing opinions on Knoxville, it may just be that they experienced a different facet of Knoxville.

[mattbward]

Downtown knox and West Knox seem to have more of the things you describe in my experience. Especially Old City.

[hiknapster]

North Knox, too, especially just north of downtown.

[Kitties of Domination]

Originally Posted by anothertntony

For the majority of Knoxville, I would agree. However, when I was a student at UT, I spent several years living in an apartment complex where almost all of the residents were UT students.

There were several nearby churches that had apparently made it their mission to save the souls of the heathens in our apartment complex. They sent vans on Sunday mornings to pick people up and take them to church. That's great - admirable even - but groups of them would also come knocking at your door quite frequently trying to convert you (this is when they would tell you about the vans).

I would usually thank them for coming, but tell them that I'm not interested. After all, I grew up in a small TN town, so I have had ample opportunity to find religion. Also, if I become interested, it's not exactly difficult to find a church in Knoxville.

That was enough for some of them, but others were very insistent. They would try to get you to put your hand on their bible and pray with them so that they could "save" you (I assume they had some scoring system for souls saved). You had to be quite forceful to get rid of some of them. I closed my door in more than person's face.

Of course, there are also the people that visit UT campus to yell at students as they go to class. There was one guy that would literally stand on a box outside of the library and preach fire and brimstone as a group of children (perhaps his; not sure) fluttered about him handing out pamphlets further detailing our future damnation. Then there was the guy - also outside the library - that would stand there with a cross affixed to his back yelling that we were all going to hell because we were studying things other than The Word. It was fun to sing Surfin' Bird as you passed him.

That probably happens on every large college campus though. I saw the same in Portland, OR.

Anyway, I never had any such experiences living elsewhere in Knoxville. The more fervent and aggressive believers seemed to focus their energy on UT.

That area of which you speak and the nearby lawn and steps of the Humanities building have become the somewhat de facto "free speech" area of campus. The idea is that people come together and present opposing viewpoints. I have also seen Mennonite students openly and calmly debating scripture, gay and lesbian groups, groups promoting safe sex, Young Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, pro-choice and anti-abortion groups, etc. Things sometimes become heated, but usually remain civil. This is was what the founding fathers intended, and is very much in the Athenian Greek democratic and intellectual tradition.

[Kitties of Domination]

Originally Posted by nasuse

Wow! I posted this and then got busy and finally came back. Thank you all so much for your thoughtful comments. Just by this fact, tells me good things about the area. I have spent much time there as I have visited my family once a year for at least a week for 15 years now.

so many helpful links and comments...I can't reply to all. but it's helpful to know if I need a fix of holistic community, then I can go to Knoxville for farmer's market, yoga, etc.! I am a homebody and love to garden and just be in nature w/ my pets. so...having a home in dandridge in nature is very important and I don't really need to be surrounded all the time by like mindedness.
thank you so much everyone!
Oh btw, a life coach is similar to a therapist..but works more in the present and future versus in the past...generally works w/ a healthy population mentally (does not deal in pathology). It's self-help, direction, clarity, and action. And we normally as life coaches work via phone, so have clients worldwide....and nationally.

Nasuse, you will be able to find many of the elements that you seek in Old North Knoxville, Downtown, and the Bearden area of west Knoxville. Food co-ops, health stores, yoga practitioners, alternative medicine practicioners, a Buddhist meditation center, New Age shops, farmer's markets, belly dancing, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indian food markets, Indian, Cuban, Korean, Thai restaurants, vegetarian restaurants, a Spanish tapas restaurant, sushi bars, fair trade merchants, an African festival, a Latin American festival, Greekfest, etc., etc.

[creeksitter]

Don't forget Tai Chi in Happy Holler (north Central).